I recently purchased a 35/2 asph. The lens hood/cap design makes a lot of sense. Now the 50/2 with tab is another matter. I'm referring to the way the hood stows by reversing it and then on with the cap. I've noticed that the hood on the 35/2 fits on my 50/2 which raises a few questions. 1. Has anyone looked at the effectiveness of this smaller hood on the 50? 2. If effective, can they be purchased separately? 3. If ineffective, is there anything like it in design that is effective for the 50? Thanks, Jim

-- Jim Shields (jim.shields@tasis.ch), April 23, 2001

Answers

Jim, I lost my dedicated 50mm hood about 30 years ago. Since then I've been using a hood which I purchased, the same year I lost my 50mm hood, in a camera store in Tucson. I was quite offended by the $15.50 price, which seemed completely out of line. It's the one that's "ventilated" so you can see through it when looking through the finder. It's a 12585H, and it's marked for 35mm f/2 through f/3.5; and for 50mm f/2 through f/3.5. I've been using it on the 35 & 50 Cron with no regrets. It will reverse on the tabbed 50, though not on the 35.

As an afternote, I recently paid $75.00 for a nearly identical used hood for my 35 Lux. It can even be mounted on the 50 Cron. So I guess $15.50 wasn't so bad, after all . . .

Regards,

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), April 23, 2001.

Jim,

I like the Asph 35/2 hood so much I got another one for my 50 Summicron (the model with the focusing tab). It works great (because of the push on lens/hood cap), but unlike the 35, does rotate a bit, because there is no notch that hold it in place, unlike the 35. The hood is well out of the way of the 50 frameline, and provides plenty of flare control.

The only downside to these hoods are the caps. They are costly but poorly made bits of flexible plastic, with a marked tendency to fall off and get lost. So you have to be watchful or tether them. The latter is a little hard to do on the tiny 35 & 50 Summicrons.

Leica should have hinged the cap to the hood.

They can be purchased separately (check B&H, which overcharges for them) but it is worth shopping around.

There is an older thread on this, with part numbers...

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), April 23, 2001.